The Seattle Torrent couldn't beat Montreal's goaltender in the first, but made up for it with a goal in each of the final two periods to win 2-1.
For the first time this season, the Seattle Torrent outshot their opponent in the first period. Defender Cayla Barnes registered a shot on goal just seven seconds into the game, and the teams ended the period with 12 shots for the Torrent and eight for the Victoire. That was only true of the first period, however. The Victoire outshot the Torrent 15-8 in the second and 15-3 in the third.
Interestingly in this game, it was the team with the lower shot count each period that was able to light the lamp, beginning with Montreal. At 18:57 in the first an Abby Roque slapshot got past Torrent goaltender, Hannah Murphy, assisted by Laura Stacey, and Marie-Philip Poulin. Seattle spent a good chunk of time in the offensive zone, but just couldn’t get anything past Victoire goaltender, Ann-Renée Desbiens.
Also in the first, the teams traded penalties starting at just 2:54 into the game when Aneta Tejralová was called for tripping. Montreal had one shot on goal during this penalty but couldn’t convert. A hooking penalty was called on Maya Labad at 11:28 and Seattle had two shots, along with several blocked shots, but still was unable to beat Desbiens.
The Torrent went into the second period down 1-0, but it didn’t take long for them to tie things up. Starting with a pass from Jessie Eldridge, Julia Gosling and Alex Carpenter in a two-on-one were able to get the Torrent on the board. Gosling’s pass ricocheted off a pad right to Carpenter who was able to get one past Desbiens at 3:32 in the second. However, from that point on, the Victoire controlled the game and spent much more time in the offensive zone than in the first.
A second pair of penalties took place in the second starting with a hooking call on Laura Stacey at 9:12 in the period. Not much to write home about with Seattle’s power play here having just one shot. Megan Carter gave Maureen Murphy a little shove after the whistle leading to a roughing call at 15:10. Montreal had four shots during their power play and, even though they didn’t get a goal out of it, they started to wear the Torrent down.
Another two-on-one led to Seattle’s game-winning goal at 3:23 in the third. This breakout started from Anna Wilgren and, with a pass from Hilary Knight, Gosling buried the puck in the net behind Desbiens. This goal was under review for several minutes while it was determined whether the Torrent were offsides, but it was deemed a good goal in the end.
Penalties raised the heart rates of Torrent fans in the third period with two coming after the team was ahead 2-1. Danielle Serdachny took a high sticking penalty at 7:57 and Montreal had a couple tries, but Murphy stood tall in net and kept Seattle ahead. At 17:17 Megan Carter was called for holding and the Victoire pulled their goaltender. This gave them a six-on-four advantage, but between blocked shots and Murphy’s head on a swivel, the game ended in a Seattle 2-1 win.
Goaltender Murphy saved 37 of 38 shots in her third professional game. “It’s been really nice especially before heading on the road to get those first starts,” said Murphy. With every game I’ve gained a lot of confidence and the team’s gained confidence in me as a new player. It’s been great for us. You can see the work that we’ve been putting in.”
It's hard for the Torrent team members not to include Murphy in their highlights from these winning games. “It was a good bounce back from our last game and we played a more complete game this time against a really good team. We shut down everything that they had tonight," said Carpenter. "We were getting bodies in front of pucks and trying to block as many as we could knowing that we had Hannah behind us. We’re super confident in her, but we were trying to give her a little break now and then and block a couple ourselves.”
This was the Torrent’s second comeback win of the season and they are now tied for fourth with Minnesota. Three stars of the game were Abby Roque (3rd), Julia Gosling (2nd), and Hannah Murphy (1st). The Seattle Torrent next play on Sunday, December 28 at 5:00 p.m. CT against the New York Sirens. This game is in Dallas at American Airlines Center and is the fourth stop on the 2025-26 PWHL Takeover Tour.